Louisville Opens as Three-Point Road Underdog vs. Kentucky
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville football program was able to get back on track with a win this past weekend against NC State in their home finale, but oddsmakers aren't favoring them in their upcoming rivalry showdown at Kentucky.
According to Circa Sports, the Cardinals have opened up as a +3.0 point underdog to the home Wildcats. The over/under has been set at 42.5.
Their home finale wasn't pretty at times, as both teams had to resort to backup quarterbacks, but Louisville (7-4, 4-4 ACC) did enough against the Wolfpack. The defense held NC State to just 291 yards, James Turner went 4-for-4 on his field goal attempts, and Jawhar Jordan scored a pair of touchdowns - including one on a 98-yard kickoff return - resulting in a 25-10 Cardinals victory.
As for Kentucky (6-5, 3-5 SEC), they have been on a downward trend following a promising start to their season. Opening up the year with four straight win and ranked as high as No. 7 in the AP Poll, the Wildcats have won just two of their last seven games. They're currently on a two-game losing streak, falling 24-21 to Vanderbilt and most recently 16-6 to No. 1 Georgia, with both losses coming at home.
Both Louisville and Kentucky are 7-4 against-the-spread so far this season. The Cardinals are 2-3 both ATS and straight up on the road, while the Wildcats are 4-3 both ATS and straight up at home.
Louisville was able to cover at UCF (+5.5), vs. USF (-14.5), at Virginia (+1.5), vs. Pitt (-1.0), vs. Wake Forest (+3.0), vs. James Madison (-6.5) and vs. NC State (-4.0); but failed to do so at Syracuse (-6.0), vs. Florida State (+2.5), at Boston College (-13.5) and at Clemson (+7.0).
Kentucky covered vs. Miami of Ohio (-16.0), at Florida (+6.0), vs. Youngstown State (-29.0), at Ole Miss (+6.5), vs. Mississippi State (+3.5), at Missouri (+1.0) and vs. Georgia (+22.5); but did not vs. Northern Illinois (-26.5), vs. South Carolina (-4.5), at Tennessee (+11.5) and vs. Vanderbilt (-17.0).
Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 26 at 3:00 p.m. EST. at Kroger Field.
(Photo of YaYa Diaby, Chris Rodriguez Jr.: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)
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